Needlefelt carpet waste as lightweight aggregate for polymer concrete composite

In this research work, the feasibility of using the needlefelt carpet waste as a lightweight aggregate for producing lightweight polymer concrete was studied. Carpet waste was shredded into small pieces and added to the polymer concrete mixture to reduce the density of the resultant product. Incorporation of a small amount of carpet waste (2.5% in weight of concrete) decreased the density of polymer concrete up to 23%. The results show that the flexural and compressive strength of lightweight polymer concretes decreased by increasing the carpet waste content. Compressive strength of lightweight polymer concrete significantly decreased with increase in the waste content. All lightweight polymer concrete samples under flexural test exhibited the post-cracking response with a remarkable improvement in the toughness and the strain capacity. An increase in the energy-absorption capacity from 53% to 129% was observed for lightweight polymer concrete samples, depending on the waste content.